In WO 02/095624 A2 there is described a computerized search method for categorization of Internet sides according to the intended activity of the user. In more detail, there is provided an Internet search method based on directory selections of purpose for activities intended by system users. The Internet search method relates to organization of a list of web sides offering online access on an electric network, wherein the list includes categories of purposeful activities for searches by users.
In US-A1-2002/059161 there is described an approach for supporting a web query expansion using multi-granularity indexing and query processing. Queries are expanded conceptionally, using semantically similar and syntactically related words to those specified by the user in the query to reduce the chances of missing relevant documents.
Further, in JP-A-2000082067 there is described a document retrieval device and method wherein a query suitable to a data base retrieval is set based on a primary query that is imported in the conception of a user and the information is retrieved based on the query. A database indexes and holds documents groups which are previously collected via a keyword/relative expression extractions part.
Generally, services as to be understood within the present specification relate to services provided through any generic service platform supporting service discovery and service interaction, e.g., Web service platforms, further service provision platforms beyond the third generation of mobile communication environments.
In view of increased variety of services, it is essential that users are supported in the discovery and selection of appropriate services that fulfill their individual tasks and needs. When trying to discover a service providing appropriate capability a user usually will have certain preferences towards the utility in view of different objects or information each service may provide.
Currently known approaches to achieve this rely, e.g., on the so-called Web Service Paradigm, W3C, Web Services Activity (Architecture Domain), http://www.w3.org/2002/ws, 2002.
A first approach to service discovery relies on Universal Description and Discovery UDDI (The UDDI Technical White Paper, http://www.uddi.org.). For discovery purposes Universal Description and Discovery UDDI provides an Internet-wide network of registries and features information about providers of a service and invocation details in the style of yellow pages. Though Universal Description and Discovery UDDI is now widely used it suffers from severe shortcomings. Universal Description and Discovery UDDI is limited to keyword matching and does not support any kind of flexibility in service discovery.
Further approaches to service discovery rely on WSDL (E. Christensen, F. Curbera, G. Meredith, and S. Weerawarana, Web Services Description Language (WSDL) 1.1. http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/NOTE-wsdl-20010315, 2001) or ebXML (ebXML.ebXML Web Site. http://www.ebXML.org.). While WSDL or ebXML are promoted today to implement service catalogs in business-to-business service provision environment, they still lack efficient concepts for service personalization.
In conclusion, currently only limited support is provided for a user-centered and personalized discovery of services. Nevertheless, with increasing number of services to be seen in the future, it is crucial that such support is given to service users to enable a subsequent selection of appropriate services fulfilling individual needs and expectations of service users.